Gumbo Politics: Unions, Business, and Louisiana Right-to-Work Legislation

Abstract

The authors examine business community involvement; in right-to-work (RTW) campaigns in Louisiana during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1970s. They find that the entire business community supported RTW in the 1940s and 1970s. In the 1950s, some small businesses and major corporations avoided public involvement due to fear of retaliation by unions or the Long government of that era, but those same companies helped initiate and organize the campaigns of the 1940s and 1970s. RTW campaign successes were linked to interunion conflict and social conditions that weakened coalitions of unions and their allies. In each decade, RTW campaigns were influenced by national and international economic and political factors.